1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to support pillows and sleeping aids for humans in general, and in particular to a pillow which supports and maintains the torso of an infant generally stationary and primarily on its side while sleeping. The pillow also includes an audio or sound emitter specifically to comfort the infant and lure it to sleep.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The present invention is essentially an improvement in the inventions taught in my earlier patents, U.S. Pat. No. 5,216,772, issued on Jun. 8, 1993, and my U.S. Pat. No. 5,193,238 issued on Mar. 16, 1993. Both of my U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,216,772 and No. 5,193,238 are herein incorporated by reference, and this being for the teachings of the infant support pillows therein. The teachings of the possible various structuring for infant support pillows, the reasons for certain structuring, and the benefits to be gained thereby are detailed in the reference patents. The present invention is an inventive improvement adaptable to any one of or a combination of my infant support pillows of the reference patents, and essentially involves the modification of the support pillow to include an audio comforter to sooth and comfort, and thus lure an infant retained within my support pillow to sleep.
It has been found that many infants are comforted and soothed by certain vibrations which they sense audibly or feel, and will fall asleep faster, and remain asleep longer, when they sense these vibrations. Sounds associated with the prenatal environment, particularly repetitious sounds such as a human heart beat, are particularly comforting to infants presumably since they are reminiscent of life in the womb which was for the child, safe, warm and reassuring. There is also the theory that "grey noise", or sound which is low in volume but relatively consistent in pitch such as a motor, helps to drown out intermittent background noise which may wake up the infant. Gentle rocking movement or mild vibrations which the infant can feel have been found to help induce sleep, as most parents have found when transporting the infant in a vehicle.
Therefore it seems an ideal arrangement to include an infant support pillow for reducing the risk of SIDS as taught in the references patents with a vibration inducer such an audio or sound emitter specifically to comfort the infant and lure it to sleep. An ideal audio sound emitter would not have the disadvantages of cassette tape or audio disc play back units which require high electrical power consumption which quickly drains batteries in the physical rotation of the sound medium in order to play back the recorded message. Additionally, it does not seem to be an ideal arrangement to place such audio units with hard sharp edges in a crib with an infant especially when there is a chance of electrical shock if a high voltage power cord is used to power the play back machine. High as well as low voltage cords pose the hazard of an infant being strangled if used to power the play back machines within the crib. Placing the play back units outside the crib may require increasing the volume to an unacceptable level for others in the same room. Tapes and discs are also a disadvantage in that they can become misplaced or worn-out.